Mapping boxes in a storage bay

ABSTRACT

Mapping boxes in a storage bay is provided, which includes: ascertaining storage bay boundaries; wirelessly reading, using a mobile device, identifying information from tags associated with the boxes, each box having one or more associated tags, and the identifying information including size information for the associated box; determining position of the tags in the storage bay by triangulating tag locations relative to, in part, one or more locations of the mobile device; and creating, by a processor, a mapping of boxes in the storage bay using the tag positions and the identifying information wirelessly read from the tags. In one or more implementations, the tags are near-field communication (NFC) tags associated with the boxes, and the creating may include automatically reorienting a floating box in the mapping of boxes, as well as automatically repositioning a box when boxes overlap each other, or overlap an edge of the storage bay.

BACKGROUND

Retail industry warehouses commonly use pallet racks to help organizeand locate boxes. The pallet racks may be placed on shelves, commonlycalled bays, which are marked with a location to help narrow down asearch area for a desired box. However, a search still needs to beperformed within the identified storage bay. The size of a storage baycan vary depending upon shelf position, but common sizes for bays may,for instance, be between 30-50 ft.². In practice, when boxes arestacked, bar codes or other identifying stickers may not be on aviewable surface, making it difficult to find a desired box, even whenlooking in the correct storage bay. Further, as inventory changes, boxesmay constantly be moved in and out of a storage bay.

SUMMARY

Shortcomings of the prior art are overcome and additional advantages areprovided through the provision of a method which includes mapping boxesresiding in a storage bay. The mapping includes: ascertaining storagebay boundaries; wirelessly reading, using a handheld mobile device,identifying information from tags associated with the boxes within aproximity sphere of the handheld mobile device, each box having at leastone tag associated therewith, and the identifying information includingbox size information for the associated box; determining position of thetags in the storage bay by triangulating tag locations relative to, atleast in part, one or more determined locations of the handheld mobiledevice during the wirelessly reading; and creating, by a processor, amapping of location and orientation of boxes in the storage bay using,at least in part, the determined tag positions and the identifyinginformation wirelessly read from the tags. Further, the creatinginitially orients each box in the storage bay so that the box's largestdimension is into the storage bay, and so that a second largestdimension of the box is oriented horizontally within the storage bay.

Systems and computer program products relating to one or more aspectsare also described and claimed herein.

Additional features and advantages are realized through the techniquesof the present invention. Other embodiments and aspects of the inventionare described in detail herein and are considered a part of the claimedinvention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

One or more aspects of the present invention are particularly pointedout and distinctly claimed as examples in the claims at the conclusionof the specification. The foregoing and other objects, features, andadvantages of the invention are apparent from the following detaileddescription taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings inwhich:

FIG. 1 depicts one embodiment of a process of mapping boxes in a storagebay, in accordance with one or more aspects of the present invention;

FIG. 2 depicts one embodiment of a process of horizontally-repositioningrepresentations of boxes in a storage bay where an overlap is detectedduring the mapping, in accordance with one or more aspects of thepresent invention;

FIG. 3 depicts one embodiment of a process of vertically-repositioningrepresentations of boxes in a storage bay where an overlap is detectedand/or box reorientation desired, in accordance with one or more aspectsof the present invention;

FIG. 4 depicts one embodiment of a process for reorienting arepresentation of a box in the storage bay during a mapping of boxes inthe storage bay, such as depicted in FIGS. 1-3, in accordance with oneor more aspects of the present invention;

FIG. 5A is a schematic of one embodiment of a mobile device search fornear-field communication (NFC) tags in a proximity sphere or scan rangeabout the mobile device, in accordance with one or more aspects of thepresent invention;

FIG. 5B depicts an example data structure listing identified NFC tagswithin each mobile device proximity sphere, in accordance with one ormore aspects of the present invention;

FIG. 5C illustrates communication between a mobile device and an NFCtag, including determination of distance between the mobile device andNFC tag, which may be used in a process in accordance with one or moreaspects of the present invention;

FIG. 5D illustrates an example trilateration of a location of the mobiledevice using known positions of NFC tags at the corners or edges of thestorage bay, in accordance with one or more aspects of the presentinvention;

FIG. 5E depicts an example data structure obtained during NFC tagtrilateration, in accordance with one or more aspects of the presentinvention;

FIG. 5F is a partial illustration of a warehouse with a distance scale,shown positioned in front of a storage bay, having boxes to be mapped,in accordance with one or more aspects of the present invention;

FIG. 5G illustrates another embodiment of a process for identifyinglocation of a mobile device in front of a storage bay, in accordancewith one or more aspects of the present invention;

FIG. 5H depicts an example data structure for NFC tag triangulationusing the known location of the mobile device, in accordance with one ormore aspects of the present invention;

FIG. 5I illustrates one embodiment of NFC tag triangulation usingproximity spheres representative of different mobile device positions inspace relative to the NFC tag at issue, and with the NFC tag beinglocated at the intersection of the multiple spheres, in accordance withone or more aspects of the present invention;

FIGS. 6A-6O depict one example of mapping boxes in a storage bay usingprocessing, such as depicted in FIGS. 1-5I, in accordance with one ormore aspects of the present invention;

FIGS. 7A & 7B illustrate an optional adjustment step to an automaticallydetermined mapping of boxes in a storage bay, in accordance with one ormore aspects of the present invention;

FIG. 8 depicts an alternate embodiment of an initial scan of a storagebay with multiple boxes, each having multiple NFC tags associatedtherewith, in accordance with one or more aspects of the presentinvention;

FIG. 9 illustrates an alternate embodiment of a process for wirelesslyreading identifying information from NFC tags associated with boxes in astorage bay, in accordance with one or more aspects of the presentinvention;

FIG. 10 depicts one embodiment of a computing system to incorporate orfacilitate mapping processing, in accordance with one or more aspects ofthe present invention;

FIG. 11 depicts one embodiment of a cloud computing environment, whichmay implement, or be used in association with one or more aspects of thepresent invention; and

FIG. 12 depicts one example of extraction model layers, which mayfacilitate or implement a mapping process, in accordance with one ormore aspects of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As noted, boxes are oftentimes stored in storage bays within awarehouse. The size of a storage bay can vary depending, for instance,upon shelf position, but common sizes for bays may be between 30-50ft.². In practice, when boxes are stacked, bar codes or otheridentifying stickers may not be on a viewable surface, making itdifficult to find a desired box, even when looking in the correctstorage bay. Also, as inventory changes, boxes may be moved in or out ofa storage bay, further complicating locating of the boxes.

Disclosed herein are methods, systems, and computer program productswhich facilitate mapping boxes within a storage bay using, for instance,a mobile device and wireless communication tags, such as near-fieldcommunication (NFC) tags. As is known, NFC tags employ a set ofcommunication protocols that enable an electronic device, such as amobile device, to establish communication by bringing the device and tagwithin a set distance of each other. For instance, in one or moreimplementations, NFC tags may operate at a frequency of 13.56 MHz, andhave a read distance of 1-1.5 meters (ISO/IEC 15693), or less. CurrentNFC tags may have a maximum memory size of about 8 kB, and a maximumtransfer rate of about 424 kB/s for reading or writing. Many mobiledevices available today include NFC technology, which may be used indifferent settings to transfer information. For instance, in a retailenvironment, NFC communications may be employed between devices to, forinstance, pay by credit card, receive credit for a loyalty program,receive coupons, etc.

Note that although described hereinbelow with reference to NFCcommunications and NFC tags, near-field communication protocols are oneexample of a short-range wireless communication protocol which may beemployed to implement mapping of boxes in a storage bay, in accordancewith one or more aspects of the present invention. Those skilled in theart will understand that other short-range wireless communicationprotocols could be employed, such as Bluetooth communications,short-range Wi-Fi, radio frequency identification (RFID), etc. Ifdesired, a mobile device may be customized to use a particular wirelesscommunication protocol, such as RFID communication. Further, a wirelessreader, such as a mobile device, is an example of one device of manythat may be employed to ascertain the desired identifying informationfor mapping boxes in the storage bay, as noted further below.

Before further discussing implementing a mapping process in accordancewith one or more aspects of the present invention, mobile devices arebriefly described. By way of example, in one or more embodiments, amobile device may have a wireless communication capability, and be, forinstance, a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wirelesscomputer, a laptop computer, tablet, etc. The wireless communicationcapability or system may be, for instance, a Code Division MultipleAccess (CDMA) system, a Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM), aWideband CDMA (W-CDMA) system, a Long-Term Evolution (LTE) system, anLTE Advanced system, etc.

The mobile device may be capable of providing bidirectionalcommunication via a receive path and a transmit path. On the receivepath, signals transmitted by another device or tag may be received by anantenna, and provided to a receiver. The receiver conditions anddigitizes the receive signals, and provides the conditioned anddigitized signals to a digital section of the mobile device for furtherprocessing. On a transmit path, a transmitter may receive data to betransmitted from the digital section, and process and condition thedata, and generate a modulated signal, which may be transmitted via theantenna to one or more base stations. The receiver and the transmitterare part of the transceiver, and support, for instance, CDMA, GSM,W-CDMA, LTE, LTE Advanced, etc.

The digital section of the mobile device may include various processing,interfaces, and memory units, such as, for example, a modem processor, areduced instruction set computer/digital signal processor (RISC/DSP), acontroller/processor, an internal memory, a generalized audio encoder, ageneralized audio decoder, a graphics/display processor, and/or anexternal bus interface (EBI). The modem processor may perform processingfor data transmission and reception, for example, encoding, modulation,demodulation, and decoding. The RISC/DSP may perform general andspecialized processing for the wireless device. The controller/processormay control the operation of various processing and interface unitswithin the digital section. The internal memory stores data and/orinstructions for various units within the digital section.

A generalized audio encoder performs encoding for input signals from anaudio source, a microphone, etc. A generalized audio decoder performsdecoding for coded audio data and provides output signals to, forinstance, a speaker/headset. It should be noted that the generalizedaudio encoder and the generalized audio decoder are not necessarilyrequired for interface with the audio source, the microphone, andspeaker/headset, and thus, may not be part of the mobile device. Thegraphics/display processor performs processing for graphics, videos,images, and texts, which are presented to a display unit. The EBIfacilitates the transfer of data between the digital section and a mainmemory. The digital section may be implemented with one or moreprocessors, DSPs, microprocessors, RISCs, etc. The digital section mayalso be fabricated on one or more application-specific integratedcircuits (ASICs), and/or other types of integrated circuits (ICs).

In general, a mobile device such as described herein is indicative ofvarious types of devices, such as a wireless phone, a cellular phone, alaptop computer, a wireless multimedia device, a tablet, a wirelesscommunication personal computer (PC), a PDA, etc. Any mobile device suchas referenced herein may have memory for storing instructions and data,as well as hardware, software, and firmware, and combinations thereof.

In one or more aspects, mapping location of boxes in a storage bay suchas disclosed herein advantageously allows for boxes, or products withinthe boxes, to be readily tracked within a warehouse. In one or moreimplementations, the mapping may include: ascertaining storage bayboundaries, including location of corners and edges of the storage bay;reading, using a mobile device, identifying information from tagsassociated with the boxes, each box having at least one tag associatedtherewith; and determining position of the tags in the storage bay bytriangulating tag locations relative to, in part, one or more locationsof the mobile device; and creating, by a processor, a mapping of boxesin the storage bay using, at least in part, the tag positions and theidentifying information wirelessly read from the tags.

In one or more embodiments, the mobile device and tags communicate viathe near-field communication (NFC) protocols with, for instance, thetags being passive NFC tags scanned by the mobile device. Further, inone or more implementations, the wirelessly reading may includewirelessly reading, using the mobile device, the identifying informationfrom the tags associated with the boxes multiple times from differentlocations of the mobile device, and the determining may include usingthe multiple readings in triangulating tag locations within the storagebay.

In one or more embodiments, ascertaining storage bay boundaries mayinclude providing boundary tags at corners and along edges of thestorage bay, and wirelessly scanning the boundary tags affixed to thecorners and along the edges of the storage bay to ascertain the storagebay boundaries. With this approach, the mapping may further includedetermining a current location of the mobile device by trilaterationbased, at least in part, on measured distances between the mobile deviceand at least three boundary tags affixed to the storage bay boundary,the determining of the current location facilitating the automaticallydetermining position of the tags in the storage bay.

In one or more implementations, boxes within a particular storage baymay be of the same size, or of different sizes, and may be oriented thesame or differently, due to initial placement within the storage bay, ormovement or repositioning of one or more boxes within the storage bay.Once the tag locations are triangulated within the storage bay, aprocess is provided for automatically creating a mapping of boxes byshifting and reorienting representations of the boxes based on theidentifying information and the tag positions. As noted, a complicatingfactor in this process is that the boxes may be of different shapesand/or sizes, and can be placed anywhere within the storage bay, in anyorientation.

In one or more implementations, the creating may include automaticallyreorienting a floating box in the mapping of boxes in the storage bay.Note that as used herein, reference to a box in the mapping of boxesrefers to a representation of a box in the mapping of boxes, such as ina data structure or in the display of the mapping of boxes. Also, thecreating may initially orient each box in the mapping of the storage bayso that the box's largest dimension is into the storage bay, and so thata second largest dimension of the box is oriented horizontally withinthe storage bay mapping. Alternatively, in one or more furtherembodiments, the identifying information read from the tags may includeorientation-related information, such as if the associated box should beretained in a specific orientation (for instance, the box may containglassware, and should not be placed on a side), or the content of thebox is breakable, and nothing should be stacked on top of the associatedbox. The creating the mapping of boxes may incorporate or consider thisidentifying information in determining whether to potentially reorientor reposition a box, if desired.

In one or more implementations, the creating the mapping of boxes mayfurther include automatically repositioning boxes in a row of boxes inthe mapping of boxes when boxes overlap, or a box overlaps an edge ofthe storage bay boundary. The automatically repositioning may include,for instance, for a bottom row of boxes in the mapping of boxes,automatically aligning boxes in the bottom row of boxes to a bottom edgeof the storage bay. Further, the automatically repositioning may includeautomatically moving a representation of a box overlapping a side edgeof the storage bay inward into the storage bay boundary of the mapping.

In one or more embodiments, the automatically repositioning of one ormore boxes within the mapping of boxes in the storage bay may include,on a first pass through the row of boxes, automatically shifting a boxof two adjacent, overlapping boxes to remove the overlap, andautomatically creating a linked box group including the two adjacentboxes, and on a second pass through the row of boxes, moving the linkedbox group together should the linked box group overlap an edge of thebay boundary, or overlap another box in the row of boxes.

The creating the mapping of boxes in the storage bay may further includedividing the storage bay into multiple vertical sub-bays extending abovea lower row of boxes in the mapping of boxes, each vertical sub-bayhaving at least one edge aligned to an edge of a box in the lower row ofboxes, and then repeating the automatically reorienting and theautomatically repositioning for boxes in each vertical sub-bay of themultiple vertical sub-bays in a next row of boxes in the mapping ofboxes. In this process, adjacent boxes in the lower row of boxes in themapping of boxes with a same height may be part of a same verticalsub-bay of the multiple vertical sub-bays.

If desired, the obtained mapping of boxes may be user-adjusted by, forinstance, displaying the mapping of boxes to a user and allowing theuser to make adjustments to the mapping of boxes by interactivelyreorienting or repositioning one or more boxes in the mapping of boxesbased, for instance, on a visual inspection of the actual placement andorientation of boxes within the storage bay of the warehouse.

Reference is made below to the drawings, which may not be drawn to scalefor ease of understanding, and wherein the same reference numbers usedthroughout different figures designate the same or similar components.

FIG. 1 depicts one high-level embodiment of a process, generally denoted100, for mapping boxes in a storage bay, in accordance with one or moreaspects of the present invention. In one or more embodiments, it isassumed that every box in the storage bay has at least one associatedNFC tag, such as a passive NFC tag. For instance, in one or moreimplementations, the NFC tags may either accompany, or be used in placeof, standard UPC tags, and may be located on an outer surface of theassociated box, or even within the box. Further, the tags may containinformation on what the product is within the box, the number of itemsin the associated box, the size or physical dimensions of the box, etc.This information is generally referred to as identifying information,and the tag may also contain other detailed information about theproduct or box, if desired.

As noted, in one or more embodiments, the corners and edges of thestorage bay may also be marked with NFC tags to assist in ascertainingthe bay boundaries. By way of example, these tags may containinformation on the size of the bay, the location of the specific NFC tagon the bay, the bay's physical location within the warehouse, etc. NFCtags could also be placed inside the bay and in the back of the bay forgreater accuracy in identifying the storage bay boundaries, if desired.In one or more other embodiments, storage bay boundaries could bepredetermined and mapped so as to be readily available to the boxmapping process, as will be understood by those skilled in the art.

Referring to FIG. 1, to start 102, in one or more implementations, auser may wave a mobile device up and down, and in and out, while moving,for instance, from side-to-side in front of a storage bay in order toscan NFC tags associated with boxes within the storage bay, as well asNFC tags associated with the boundaries of the storage bay 104. A usermay move the mobile device around or in close proximity to the boxes,covering the entire area of the bay. The mobile device detects the NFCtags along the way, which contain information about the storage bay orthe associated boxes. If desired, movement instructions could be givenon the mobile device. Further, notifications via sound or vibrationcould also be provided to, for instance, notify the user if they aremoving the mobile device too quickly, which may be based onaccelerometer readings, or if they have missed scanning part of the bay.One or more additional passes over the bay may help to improve accuracy,if desired. A checksum could be used during scanning to ensure that acomplete transmission is received from a particular tag. A user may alsobe given the ability to update the tag information for, for instance,quantity of items within a particular box.

The mobile device reads data from the NFC tags within its scan range106. An example of reading data from the NFC tags 106 (FIG. 1) isdepicted in FIG. 5A, where a mobile device (not shown) includes aproximity sphere or scan range 505 about the mobile device, within whichNFC tags 500 associated with boxes (box 1, box 2, etc.) are identifiedwithin a storage bay 501, as well as NFC tags 502 associated withcorners of storage bay 501, and NFC tags 503 disposed along the edges ofstorage bay 501. The mobile device, which in this example, functions asan NFC reader, searches for NFC tags within the proximity sphere or scanrange 505 of the mobile device.

Returning to FIG. 1, a list of NFC tag groupings is created at eachmobile device location 108. One embodiment of such a list is depicted inFIG. 5B for the three scans of FIG. 5A. Note that placement of the NFCtags 502 (FIG. 5A) at the corners, and NFC tags 503 (FIG. 5A) along theedges, for instance, every two feet along the edges, may advantageouslyfacilitate locating tags 500 within storage bay 501, as explainedfurther below. In one or more implementations, the presence of thecorner/edge tags 502, 503 and knowing their distance apart mayfacilitate the processing described below. For instance, in one or moreembodiments, the mobile device may be required to read at least threecorner and/or edge tags (which are at known locations and distancesapart) at each scan location of the mobile device in order to facilitatetrilateration of the mobile device, and thus triangulation of the tags500 associated with the boxes within storage bay 501 (FIG. 5A).

Returning to FIG. 1, processing determines whether there are sufficientcorner and/or edge NFC tag readings 110. If “no”, processing inquireswhether the user wishes to rescan the storage bay 112. If “yes”, thenthe process flow returns to scanning the NFC tags within or associatedwith the storage bay 104. If “no”, or if there are sufficient readingsof the corner and edge tags, then processing proceeds to determine theNFC tag positions associated with the boxes through, in one or moreimplementations, trilateration of the mobile device and triangulation ofthe NFC tags 114.

As noted, the mobile device determines NFC tags within its read range ateach position, as the mobile device is moved across the storage bay. Themobile device may determine distances between the device and each NFCtag. As illustrated in FIG. 5C, a mobile device may transmit at, forinstance, 13.56 MHz, to a passive NFC tag. The passive NFC tag powers upbefore transmitting its data back to the mobile device, also at 13.56MHz. The distance between the mobile device and a single NFC tag can becalculated using Friis transmission equation on the return signal fromthe passive NFC tag to the mobile device. In particular, the distance Rmay be determined as:

$\begin{matrix}{R = \frac{\lambda}{4\pi\sqrt{\frac{P_{t}}{P_{r}G_{t}G_{r}}}}} & (1)\end{matrix}$Wherein:

λ=Wavelength (22.12 m for NFC);

P_(t)=Power transmitted (NFC tag);

P_(r)=Power received (mobile device);

G_(t)=Gain of transmitting antenna (NFC tag);

G_(r)=Gain of receiving antenna (mobile device); and

R=Distance.

Based on known distances between the corner and edge NFC tags 502, 503(FIG. 5D), and the distance of the mobile device from NFC tags 502, 503,the exact position of the mobile device may be determined viatrilateration. To facilitate the trilateration determination, for thesensed position being analyzed, the mobile device should be within rangeof at least three NFC tags associated with the bay boundary. In scan 1in the example of FIG. 5A, the mobile device is within range of twocorner tags 502, one edge tag 503, and one box tag 500. A determinationis made of the distance to each of the four tags from the mobile deviceat that moment in time, and from that information, the exact position ofthe mobile device may be determined relative to the edge of the storagebay with NFC tags 502, 503.

For instance, with reference to FIG. 5D, the height of the mobile device510 may be determined by knowing the length of the three sides of atriangle formed between corner tags 502 and mobile device 510, with theheight being ascertained, for instance, relative to the lower edge ofstorage bay 501. It is assumed that the height of the lower edge of thestorage bay relative to, for instance, a warehouse floor, could also beknown. With the height information, the horizontal distance of mobiledevice 510 along storage bay 501 may be determined by using, forinstance, tag 502 in corner 2 of the storage bay, and edge tag 503. Thedistance between corner and edge tags 502, 503 is known, and thedistance between the mobile device and these tags can be determinedusing Friis' Equation (1) above. By knowing the length of the threesides of the imaginary triangle, and using the law of cosines, thedistance of the mobile device from, for instance, the left-bay edge, maybe determined using simple trigonometry. Further, the distance of themobile device from the storage bay may be determined similarly usingtrigonometry, with the Pythagorean Theorem being used to calculate oneof the unknown sides of the triangle between, for instance, the zdirection of mobile device 510 relative to, for instance, location ofNFC tag 502 in corner 2. In one or more implementations, the law ofcosines could be used to calculate the distance z between the mobiledevice and the storage bay. FIG. 5E depicts one embodiment of a datastructure obtained from mobile device trilateration identifying theposition of the mobile device at each set of scan data, along withidentifying the NFC tags within the proximity sphere or scan range atthat location.

Note that other embodiments could be employed in determining position ofthe mobile device. For instance, FIGS. 5F & 5G depict one embodimentwhere the position of mobile device 510 at one side of the storage bayis ascertained using, in part, a distance scale or ruler and a cameraassociated with mobile device 510. By facing the camera towards thewarehouse floor, the camera can be used to determine mobile deviceheight. Cameras typically measure distances of items with autofocus, sothe feature is already readily available on most mobile devices. Also,applications already exist in the art to determine height using thisfeature. In addition, using the camera, image processing could beperformed to view distance scale 515 disposed, for instance, on thefloor in the front of the storage bay. Mobile device 510 may alsoinclude a built-in accelerometer to determine if a user is tilting thedevice in any direction. In practice, a user would most likely not holdthe mobile device parallel to the floor at all times during the scanprocess. Simple trigonometry may be used to determine the mobiledevice's horizontal distance within the storage bay, as illustrated inFIG. 5G. This process may be employed to determine the mobile device'sexact position at an instance of time, replacing the need for corner andedge tags to find the mobile device position relative to the bay, asexplained above. At the same instance of time, the mobile device to NFCbox tag location may be obtained using Friis' Equation (1). By way offurther example, the mobile device could be attached to a movablestructure which holds the mobile device at a fixed height, for instance,in front of the storage bay, during the scan process, therebysimplifying locating of the mobile device relative to the boxes.

Once the location of the mobile device is known, NFC tag triangulationmay be performed to ascertain position of the NFC tags associated withthe boxes. As noted, Friis' Equation (1) may be used to determine thedistance to the NFC box tag at this instance of time, but the mobiledevice does not know which direction the box is in. To resolve this, aproximity sphere or scan range about the mobile device may be created inthis instance in time, with a radius equal to a distance between themobile device and the NFC box tag. An embodiment of a data structurecontaining this information is illustrated in FIG. 5H, with exampleproximity spheres 505 depicted in FIG. 5I Each sphere 505 in FIG. 5Irepresents the mobile device's position in space with, for instance, themobile device being located at the center of the sphere. The radius ofeach sphere matches a distance between the measurements to a unique NFCtag at the time the mobile device was at that position. More spheres maybe created for greater accuracy. By using the data from at least threeinstances of time, that is, three different overlapping spheres 505,such as depicted in FIG. 5I, the exact position of the NFC tag withinthe storage bay can be triangulated. If two points satisfy thiscriteria, for instance, one in front of the mobile device, and onebehind, then the tag location is determined as the one falling withinthe storage bay.

Returning to FIG. 1, once the NFC tag positions associated with theboxes within the storage bay are determined 114, then processing createsa mapping of boxes within the storage bay 116. As noted, the mapping ofboxes refers to, for instance, a data structure or displayablerepresentation of the boxes within the storage bay. Since the locationof the NFC tag on the associated box may vary from box-to-box, and sincethe boxes may be of different shapes and/or sizes, and orientations, therepresentation of the mapping of boxes undergoes further processing, asexplained below.

For instance, as depicted in FIG. 1, the processing may determinewhether there are any box placement violations within the storage bay118. If “yes”, then one or more boxes may be repositioned and/orreoriented. FIGS. 2-4 depict one example of processing for automaticallyrepositioning boxes in the mapping of boxes, as well as selectivelyreorienting of boxes in the mapping of boxes within the storage bay.

Referring first to FIG. 2, one embodiment of a process 200 forhorizontal box shifting is depicted. This box shifting process 200begins 201 with determining whether the mapping of boxes includes anyfloating boxes, or boxes with too much white space underneath 202. Byway of example, FIG. 6A depicts one embodiment of an initial mapping ofboxes 600 within a storage bay 601 containing multiple boxes 602, whichmay be of the same or different sizes. The mapping of boxes 600 in FIG.6A may be created using, at least in part, the determined positions ofthe tags in the storage bay, as well as using the identifyinginformation wirelessly read from the tags. As illustrated in FIG. 6B, abox 602 is identified as a floating box, or a box with too much whitespace underneath, and therefore from inquiry 202 (FIG. 2), processingproceeds to reorient a box 204.

One embodiment of a process 400 for box reorientation is depicted inFIG. 4. The process begins 401 with analyzing the boxes in the problemarea, that is, the row, sub-bay, or floating box 402, and selecting themost likely box for reorientation 404. Processing checks flags on orassociated with the selected box to determine whether there is anyunattempted orientation change left 406. If “yes”, then based on theopen space and the surrounding boxes, a most likely non-flaggedorientation is selected 408 to reorient the box. Processing rotates theselected box and sets the flag to its current orientation 410, and thenreturns to the point of call in the horizontal or vertical shiftingprocesses of FIGS. 2 & 3, 412 (FIG. 4).

One embodiment of this process is depicted in FIGS. 6B & 6C, where a box602′ in the bottom row of boxes in the mapping of boxes 600 is selectedand rotated about the y axis in order to provide support for thefloating box 602 identified in FIG. 6B.

Continuing with box reorientation process 400 of FIG. 4, if allorientations have been attempted 406, then processing ignores theselected box 414, and determines whether there are any more boxes in theproblem area to check 416. If “yes”, then processing selects the nextmost likely box for reorientation. Otherwise, processing determineswhether other boxes have already been reoriented 418. If “no”, then aviolation 424 is detected, representative of, for instance, insufficientor corrupted data. Assuming that other boxes have already beenreoriented, then processing undoes the reorientation on an alreadyreoriented box 420, reverting the box at issue back to the oldorientation, and continues with the repositioning process of FIGS. 2 & 3from the point in time when it was reoriented 422.

Returning to the process of FIG. 2, once any floating boxes or boxeswith too much white space underneath are addressed, processing assumesthe largest dimension for each box is in the z direction, that is,assuming that the box fits depth-wise within the storage bay, and thatthe next largest dimension of the box is oriented horizontally, that is,in the x direction in the example of FIGS. 6A-6O, if orientation is nototherwise specified or limited 206. Processing locates any boxes in themapping of boxes in a bottom row of boxes with space under the box 208.One embodiment of this is depicted in FIG. 6D, where the threeright-most boxes in the bottom row of boxes 605 are spaced above abottom edge of the storage bay 601.

Returning to FIG. 2, processing determines if the assumed orientationfits in the storage bay length-wise 210. In the example of FIG. 6D, theboxes would not fit length-wise due, in part, to the overlapping of thethree right-most boxes in the bottom row of the boxes 605. In thissituation, a box is reoriented 212 (FIG. 2). FIG. 6E depicts an exampleof reorientation of the middle box 602 in the bottom row of boxes 605.After reorienting this box, processing in FIG. 2 returns to determinewhether there are any other floating boxes or boxes with too much whichspace underneath 202. In a second pass through process 200, thesecond-from-right box 602 in the bottom row of boxes 605 is identifiedand reoriented as illustrated in FIGS. 6F & 6G by rotating the box aboutthe z axis.

Once there is sufficient space for the boxes in the bottom row of boxesto fit in the bay length-wise, that is, horizontally across the bay,then processing shifts up or down the boxes in the bottom row of boxesto be level with a bottom edge of the storage bay 214 (FIG. 2). Theupdated intermediate mapping is depicted in FIG. 6H, where the bottomrow of boxes 605 are shown aligned to the bottom edge of the storage bay601.

Continuing with process 200 of FIG. 2, and by way of example only,processing may move right-to-left from the left edge of storage bay 601,and determine, starting at the left edge, whether the left-most boxoverlaps the left edge of the bay, or another box 216. If “yes”, thenthe box is shifted to the right 218 and a link is created between theadjacent, overlapped boxes 220. In the example of FIG. 6G, the left-mostbox 602 in the bottom row of boxes 605 overlaps the side edge of storagebay 601, and is therefore moved to the right, and once moved, that boxwill overlap the second-from-left box 602 in the bottom row of boxes605, resulting in the second-from-left box also being moved to the rightto remove the overlap, resulting in a link, link 1, being createdbetween the two left-most, adjacent boxes in the bottom row of boxes, asillustrated in FIG. 6H.

As shown in FIG. 2, processing may determine whether the last box in therow has been processed 222, and if “no”, moves one box to the right, anddetermines whether the left edge of that box overlaps with an edge ofthe storage bay, or with another box. In the example of FIG. 6H, theanswer is “no” with respect to the middle box 602 in the bottom row ofboxes, and as such, there is no shifting of that box at this time.

As illustrated in FIG. 6H, as the two right-most boxes 602 in the bottomrow of boxes 605 are processed, the overlap in those boxes results inthose boxes being shifted right, and in the three right-most boxes beinglinked, in link 2. As shown, due to the right shift, the right-most box602 now overlaps the right edge of storage bay 601. Once the first passis completed, a second, right-to-left pass may be performed, treatingthe boxes in this example within the context of the links formed. Thus,returning to FIG. 2, once the last box in the row is processed 222, thenmoving right-to-left in the bottom row, does the right edge of the firstlink overlap with the edge of the storage bay, or with another box 226,and if “yes”, the linked box group is shifted to the left 228 to avoidthe overlap. As a result of this processing, the revised mapping ofboxes in the bottom row of boxes 605 is depicted in FIG. 6I, where boxesin link 2 have been shifted to the left to fit link 2 within storage bay601.

After moving the linked set, or if the linked set does not requiremovement, the process flow of FIG. 2 determines whether the first box inthe row (that is, the left-most box in the example presented in FIGS.6A-6O) is reached 230. If “no”, then processing moves to the left to thenext link 232 and determines whether for this link, the right edge ofthe link overlaps with an edge of the bay boundary, or with another box.Note that in this example of horizontal box shifting, movement fromleft-to-right initially, and then right-to-left, is presented by way ofexample only. In one or more other examples, processing could move fromright-to-left, and then back from left-to-right initially, to achievethe same outcome. Once the first box in the row has been reached 230,then processing moves to vertical box shifting 234, one embodiment ofwhich is depicted in FIG. 3.

As shown in FIG. 3, vertical box shifting process 300 begins 301 withdetermining whether there are now any floating boxes, or boxes with toomuch white space underneath 302. If “yes”, then processing reorients thebox at issue 304 and returns to the horizontal box shifting process ofFIG. 2 for the box level or row containing the reoriented box 306.

Assuming that there are no floating boxes or boxes with too much whitespace underneath 302, then the storage bay is virtually divided intosub-bays based on a right edge of the organized boxes of a bottom row.One embodiment of this is depicted in FIG. 6J, where storage bay 601 isdivided into vertical sub-bays 610 along imaginary right-edge cutoffs611 of the boxes in the bottom row of boxes 605. As illustrated, wheretwo boxes in the bottom row of boxes are at a same height, then theboxes may form a common vertical sub-bay 610. The intermediate mappingof FIG. 6J may be obtained by, for instance, again moving left-to-rightacross the bottom row of boxes, and determining whether the box is partof a linked set 308 (FIG. 3). If “yes”, then as shown in FIG. 3,processing determines whether the multiple adjacent boxes have a sameheight 310. If “yes” again, then the vertical sub-bay starts from thelast-sorted, vertical box edge on the left to the right edge of theright-most box in the linked set 312 with the same height. Otherwise,boxes are treated individually as not part of a linked set 314. If a boxis not part of a linked set, then the vertical sub-bay starts from thelast-sorted, vertical box edge on the left to the right edge of the box316. Again, one embodiment of the resultant vertical sub-bays 610 andthe vertical edges 611 of the sub-bays is depicted in FIG. 6J.

Returning to FIG. 3, processing determines whether any boxes cross avertical cut-off line 318. If “yes”, then the boxes at issue are shiftedleft or right into the vertical sub-bay that has more area within it. Inthe example of FIG. 6J, two boxes in the second row of boxes have beenshifted right in the respective vertical sub-bays 610.

Continuing with FIG. 3, processing separately addresses boxes in eachvertical sub-bay, and determines whether any more boxes above arealready-placed boxes 322. If “yes”, then processing determines whetherthe boxes in that column or sub-bay fit vertically within the storagebay based on current assumed orientations 334. If “no”, a box isreoriented 338 using, for instance, the processing of FIG. 4. Otherwise,horizontal shifting is performed on the next row in each sub-bay 336.Applying horizontal box shifting to the left-most vertical column, andin particular, to the second row of boxes 615 in the left-most verticalsub-bay 610, orientation of the middle box is rotated about the z axis,as depicted in FIGS. 6K & 6L, in order to allow the second row of boxesto fit within the left-most vertical sub-bay 610, as shown in FIG. 6M.The process then repeats for any third row of boxes, fourth row ofboxes, etc. For instance, upon forming vertical sub-bays above thesecond row of boxes in the left-most vertical sub-bay, the upper box 602is initially shifted left since, as shown in FIGS. 6M & 6N, it wouldoverlap the vertical edge of the next vertical sub-bay 620 containingthat box. Further, applying the above-described processing, the box 602is shifted up so as to not overlap the supporting box in the second rowof boxes, resulting in the mapping of boxes 600 depicted in FIG. 6O.

Returning to FIG. 3, the process further determines, if there are nomore boxes in the vertical sub-column above already-placed boxes 322,whether there are any violations that may still exist 340. If “yes”,then a box is reoriented 338 using, for instance, the processing of FIG.4, after which processing returns to the horizontal box shifting of FIG.2 for the reoriented box level. If no violations exist, then the mappingof boxes in the storage bay may be output 342, for example, displayed.

Returning to the process of FIG. 1, once completing repositioning andreorienting of boxes within the mapping of boxes, processing determineswhether a user wishes to confirm box placement is correct 122, and if“yes”, allows a user to make adjustments 124 by, for instance, viewingthe actual storage bay, and if necessary, reorienting or repositioningone or more boxes in the mapping of boxes to accurately represent thephysical boxes, their orientation and positioning within the storagebay. Once completed, or if no manual confirmation is to be performed,the mapping of boxes is output, for instance, displayed, or otherwisesaved or transferred as a data structure 126.

By way of example, FIGS. 7A & 7B illustrate the mapping of boxes 600from the example of FIG. 6O. This mapping of boxes represents, in one ormore examples, the best estimated mapping of the boxes. With thismapping, a user could, for instance, quickly scan the physical boxes inthe storage bay and perform minor adjustments if the best estimatedmapping of boxes is not perfect. For instance, a user could choose torotate the orientation of one or more boxes, or shift one or more boxesleft or right, as illustrated in the mapping of boxes 600′ depicted inFIG. 7B, wherein one box 602 is reoriented, and another shifted slightlyto the right. By way of further enhancement, one or more notificationscould be provided to a user based on results of the mapping of boxes.For instance, if two NFC tags are considered too close together, theuser could be notified to check whether the automatic mapping correctlyplaced the boxes, or if the boxes need to be adjusted in the mapping ofboxes.

FIG. 8 depicts the initial mapping of boxes of FIG. 6A, and furtherdepicts that each box 602 in the mapping includes two tags 800, forinstance, an upper tag and a lower tag on opposite sides of therespective box. The provision of multiple tags, either on an exteriorsurface of the box, an interior surface, or otherwise within the box,may advantageously provide additional data points to allow more exactplacement and orientation of the boxes in the mapping of boxes in thestorage bay. More broadly, any number of tags could be associated witheach box, as desired.

By way of further example, FIG. 9 is a partial embodiment of a warehouse900 comprising storage bays 910 from, for instance, a back side view ofstorage bays, and showing a scanning bar 920, which may support multiplewireless readers, such as multiple NFC readers 925 on the scanning bar.In one implementation, the scanning bar may reciprocate side-to-side toallow for scanning of, for instance, NFC tags disposed in boxes (notshown) within the associated storage bay(s) 910. For instance, ascanning bar 920 could be movably installed on the back side of eachstorage bay 910, and used in combination with, for instance, weightsensors to automatically scan the associated storage bay whenever a boxis added, removed, or shifted within the storage bay. Note that the useof weight sensors could also be employed in combination with theprocessing described above in connection with FIGS. 1-6O, if desired.

Exemplary embodiments of a computing environment which may implement oneor more aspects of the present invention are described below withreference to FIGS. 10-12.

By way of further example, FIG. 10 depicts one embodiment of a computingenvironment 1000, which includes a computing system 1012. Examples ofwell-known computing systems, environments, and/or configurations thatmay be suitable for use with computer system 1012 include, but are notlimited to, a wireless computer, a handheld or laptop computer ordevice, a mobile phone, a programmable consumer electronic device, atablet, a personal digital assistant (PDA), and the like.

Computing system 1012 may be described in the general context ofcomputer system-executable instructions, such as program modules, beingexecuted by a computer system. Generally, program modules may includeroutines, programs, objects, components, logic, data structures, and soon that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract datatypes.

As depicted in FIG. 10, computing system 1012, is shown in the form of ageneral-purpose computing device. The components of computing system1012 may include, but are not limited to, one or more processors orprocessing units 1016, a system memory 1023, and a bus 1018 that couplesvarious system components including system memory 1023 to processor1016.

In one embodiment, processor 1016 may be based on the z/Architecture®offered by International Business Machines Corporation, or otherarchitectures offered by International Business Machines Corporation orother companies. z/Architecture® is a registered trademark ofInternational Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, N.Y., USA. Oneembodiment of the z/Architecture® is described in “z/Architecture®Principles of Operation,” IBM Publication No. SA22-7832-10, March 2015,which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

In other examples, it may be based on other architectures, such as thePower Architecture offered by International Business MachinesCorporation. One embodiment of the Power Architecture is described in“Power ISA™ Version 2.07B,” International Business Machines Corporation,Apr. 9, 2015, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety. POWER ARCHITECTURE is a registered trademark of InternationalBusiness Machines Corporation, Armonk, N.Y., USA. Other names usedherein may be registered trademarks, trademarks, or product names ofInternational Business Machines Corporation or other companies.

Bus 1018 represents one or more of any of several types of busstructures, including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheralbus, an accelerated graphics port, and a processor or local bus usingany of a variety of bus architectures. By way of example, and notlimitation, such architectures include Industry Standard Architecture(ISA) bus, Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus, Enhanced ISA (EISA)bus, Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) local bus, andPeripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus.

Computing system 1012 may include a variety of computer system readablemedia. Such media may be any available media that is accessible bycomputing system 1012, and it includes both volatile and non-volatilemedia, removable and non-removable media.

System memory 1023 can include computer system readable media in theform of volatile memory, such as random access memory (RAM) 1030 and/orcache memory 1032. Computing system 1012 may further include otherremovable/non-removable, volatile/non-volatile computer system storagemedia. By way of example only, storage system 1034 can be provided forreading from and writing to a non-removable, non-volatile magnetic media(not shown and typically called a “hard drive”). Although not shown, amagnetic disk drive for reading from and writing to a removable,non-volatile magnetic disk (e.g., a “floppy disk”), and an optical diskdrive for reading from or writing to a removable, non-volatile opticaldisk such as a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM or other optical media could be provided.In such instances, each can be connected to bus 1018 by one or more datamedia interfaces. As described below, memory 1023 may include at leastone program product having a set (e.g., at least one) of program modulesthat are configured to carry out the functions of embodiments of theinvention.

Program/utility 1040, having a set (at least one) of program modules1042, may be stored in memory 1032 by way of example, and notlimitation, as well as an operating system, one or more applicationprograms, other program modules, and program data. Each of the operatingsystem, one or more application programs, other program modules, andprogram data or some combination thereof, may include an implementationof a networking environment. Program modules 1042 generally carry outthe functions and/or methodologies of embodiments of the invention asdescribed herein. Alternatively mapping processing system, module,logic, etc., 1001 may be provided within computing environment 1012.

Computing system 1012 may also communicate with one or more externaldevices 1014 such as a keyboard, a pointing device, a display 1024,etc.; one or more devices that enable a user to interact with computingsystem 1012; and/or any devices (e.g., network card, modem, etc.) thatenable computing system 1012 to communicate with one or more othercomputing devices. Such communication can occur via Input/Output (I/O)interfaces 1022. Still yet, computing system 1012 can communicate withone or more networks such as a local area network (LAN), a general widearea network (WAN), and/or a public network (e.g., the Internet) vianetwork adapter 1020. As depicted, network adapter 1020 communicateswith the other components of computing system, 1012, via bus 1018. Itshould be understood that although not shown, other hardware and/orsoftware components could be used in conjunction with computing system1012. Examples, include, but are not limited to: microcode, devicedrivers, redundant processing units, external disk drive arrays, RAIDsystems, tape drives, and data archival storage systems, etc.

One or more aspects may relate to or use cloud computing.

It is understood in advance that although this disclosure includes adetailed description on cloud computing, implementation of certainteachings recited herein are not limited to a cloud computingenvironment. Rather, embodiments of the present invention are capable ofbeing implemented in conjunction with any other type of computingenvironment now known or later developed.

Cloud computing is a model of service delivery for enabling convenient,on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computingresources (e.g. networks, network bandwidth, servers, processing,memory, storage, applications, virtual machines, and services) that canbe rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort orinteraction with a provider of the service. This cloud model may includeat least five characteristics, at least three service models, and atleast four deployment models.

Characteristics are as follows:

On-demand self-service: a cloud consumer can unilaterally provisioncomputing capabilities, such as server time and network storage, asneeded automatically without requiring human interaction with theservice's provider.

Broad network access: capabilities are available over a network andaccessed through standard mechanisms that promote use by heterogeneousthin or thick client platforms (e.g., mobile phones, laptops, and PDAs).

Resource pooling: the provider's computing resources are pooled to servemultiple consumers using a multi-tenant model, with different physicaland virtual resources dynamically assigned and reassigned according todemand. There is a sense of location independence in that the consumergenerally has no control or knowledge over the exact location of theprovided resources but may be able to specify location at a higher levelof abstraction (e.g., country, state, or datacenter).

Rapid elasticity: capabilities can be rapidly and elasticallyprovisioned, in some cases automatically, to quickly scale out andrapidly released to quickly scale in. To the consumer, the capabilitiesavailable for provisioning often appear to be unlimited and can bepurchased in any quantity at any time.

Measured service: cloud systems automatically control and optimizeresource use by leveraging a metering capability at some level ofabstraction appropriate to the type of service (e.g., storage,processing, bandwidth, and active user accounts). Resource usage can bemonitored, controlled, and reported providing transparency for both theprovider and consumer of the utilized service.

Service Models are as follows:

Software as a Service (SaaS): the capability provided to the consumer isto use the provider's applications running on a cloud infrastructure.The applications are accessible from various client devices through athin client interface such as a web browser (e.g., web-based email). Theconsumer does not manage or control the underlying cloud infrastructureincluding network, servers, operating systems, storage, or evenindividual application capabilities, with the possible exception oflimited user-specific application configuration settings.

Platform as a Service (PaaS): the capability provided to the consumer isto deploy onto the cloud infrastructure consumer-created or acquiredapplications created using programming languages and tools supported bythe provider. The consumer does not manage or control the underlyingcloud infrastructure including networks, servers, operating systems, orstorage, but has control over the deployed applications and possiblyapplication hosting environment configurations.

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): the capability provided to theconsumer is to provision processing, storage, networks, and otherfundamental computing resources where the consumer is able to deploy andrun arbitrary software, which can include operating systems andapplications. The consumer does not manage or control the underlyingcloud infrastructure but has control over operating systems, storage,deployed applications, and possibly limited control of select networkingcomponents (e.g., host firewalls).

Deployment Models are as follows:

Private cloud: the cloud infrastructure is operated solely for anorganization. It may be managed by the organization or a third party andmay exist on-premises or off-premises.

Community cloud: the cloud infrastructure is shared by severalorganizations and supports a specific community that has shared concerns(e.g., mission, security requirements, policy, and complianceconsiderations). It may be managed by the organizations or a third partyand may exist on-premises or off-premises.

Public cloud: the cloud infrastructure is made available to the generalpublic or a large industry group and is owned by an organization sellingcloud services.

Hybrid cloud: the cloud infrastructure is a composition of two or moreclouds (private, community, or public) that remain unique entities butare bound together by standardized or proprietary technology thatenables data and application portability (e.g., cloud bursting for loadbalancing between clouds).

A cloud computing environment is service oriented with a focus onstatelessness, low coupling, modularity, and semantic interoperability.At the heart of cloud computing is an infrastructure comprising anetwork of interconnected nodes.

A cloud computing node may include a computer system/server, such as theone depicted in FIG. 10. Computer system/server 1012 of FIG. 10 may bepracticed in distributed cloud computing environments where tasks areperformed by remote processing devices that are linked through acommunications network. In a distributed cloud computing environment,program modules may be located in both local and remote computer systemstorage media including memory storage devices. Computer system/server602 is capable of being implemented and/or performing any of thefunctionality set forth hereinabove.

Referring now to FIG. 11, illustrative cloud computing environment 50 isdepicted. As shown, cloud computing environment 50 comprises one or morecloud computing nodes 10 with which local computing devices used bycloud consumers, such as, for example, personal digital assistant (PDA)or cellular telephone 54A, desktop computer 54B, laptop computer 54C,and/or automobile computer system 54N may communicate. Nodes 10 maycommunicate with one another. They may be grouped (not shown) physicallyor virtually, in one or more networks, such as Private, Community,Public, or Hybrid clouds as described hereinabove, or a combinationthereof. This allows cloud computing environment 50 to offerinfrastructure, platforms and/or software as services for which a cloudconsumer does not need to maintain resources on a local computingdevice. It is understood that the types of computing devices 54A-N shownin FIG. 11 are intended to be illustrative only and that computing nodes10 and cloud computing environment 50 can communicate with any type ofcomputerized device over any type of network and/or network addressableconnection (e.g., using a web browser).

Referring now to FIG. 12, a set of functional abstraction layersprovided by cloud computing environment 50 is shown. It should beunderstood in advance that the components, layers, and functions shownin FIG. 12 are intended to be illustrative only and embodiments of theinvention are not limited thereto. As depicted, the following layers andcorresponding functions are provided:

Hardware and software layer 60 includes hardware and softwarecomponents. Examples of hardware components include mainframes 61; RISC(Reduced Instruction Set Computer) architecture based servers 62;servers 63; blade servers 64; storage devices 65; and networks andnetworking components 66. In some embodiments, software componentsinclude network application server software 67 and database software 68.

Virtualization layer 70 provides an abstraction layer from which thefollowing examples of virtual entities may be provided: virtual servers71; virtual storage 72; virtual networks 73, including virtual privatenetworks; virtual applications and operating systems 74; and virtualclients 75.

In one example, management layer 80 may provide the functions describedbelow. Resource provisioning 81 provides dynamic procurement ofcomputing resources and other resources that are utilized to performtasks within the cloud computing environment. Metering and Pricing 82provide cost tracking as resources are utilized within the cloudcomputing environment, and billing or invoicing for consumption of theseresources. In one example, these resources may comprise applicationsoftware licenses. Security provides identity verification for cloudconsumers and tasks, as well as protection for data and other resources.User portal 83 provides access to the cloud computing environment forconsumers and system administrators. Service level management 84provides cloud computing resource allocation and management such thatrequired service levels are met. Service Level Agreement (SLA) planningand fulfillment 85 provide pre-arrangement for, and procurement of,cloud computing resources for which a future requirement is anticipatedin accordance with an SLA.

Workloads layer 90 provides examples of functionality for which thecloud computing environment may be utilized. Examples of workloads andfunctions which may be provided from this layer include: mapping andnavigation 91; software development and lifecycle management 92; virtualclassroom education delivery 93; data analytics processing 94;transaction processing 95; and mapping processing 96.

The descriptions of the various embodiments of the present inventionhave been presented for purposes of illustration, but are not intendedto be exhaustive or limited to the embodiments disclosed. Manymodifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinaryskills in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of thedescribed embodiments. The terminology used herein was chosen to bestexplain the principles of the embodiments, the practical application ortechnical improvement over technologies found in the marketplace, or toenable others of ordinary skills in the art to understand theembodiments disclosed herein.

The present invention may be a system, a method, and/or a computerprogram product at any possible technical detail level of integration.The computer program product may include a computer readable storagemedium (or media) having computer readable program instructions thereonfor causing a processor to carry out aspects of the present invention.

The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that canretain and store instructions for use by an instruction executiondevice. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but isnot limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device,an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, asemiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of thecomputer readable storage medium includes the following: a portablecomputer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), aread-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMor Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portablecompact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD),a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such aspunch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructionsrecorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. Acomputer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construedas being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freelypropagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagatingthrough a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulsespassing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmittedthrough a wire.

Computer readable program instructions described herein can bedownloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computerreadable storage medium or to an external computer or external storagedevice via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, awide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprisecopper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wirelesstransmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/oredge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in eachcomputing/processing device receives computer readable programinstructions from the network and forwards the computer readable programinstructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium withinthe respective computing/processing device.

Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations ofthe present invention may be assembler instructions,instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions,machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions,state-setting data, configuration data for integrated circuitry, oreither source code or object code written in any combination of one ormore programming languages, including an object oriented programminglanguage such as Smalltalk, C++, or the like, and procedural programminglanguages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programminglanguages. The computer readable program instructions may executeentirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as astand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partlyon a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. Inthe latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user'scomputer through any type of network, including a local area network(LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to anexternal computer (for example, through the Internet using an InternetService Provider). In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including,for example, programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gatearrays (FPGA), or programmable logic arrays (PLA) may execute thecomputer readable program instructions by utilizing state information ofthe computer readable program instructions to personalize the electroniccircuitry, in order to perform aspects of the present invention.

Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer readable program instructions.

These computer readable program instructions may be provided to aprocessor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, orother programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, suchthat the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computeror other programmable data processing apparatus, create means forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructionsmay also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can directa computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or otherdevices to function in a particular manner, such that the computerreadable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises anarticle of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects ofthe function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram blockor blocks.

The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto acomputer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other deviceto cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer,other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computerimplemented process, such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement thefunctions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods, and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternativeimplementations, the functions noted in the blocks may occur out of theorder noted in the Figures. For example, two blocks shown in successionmay, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks maysometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon thefunctionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of theblock diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocksin the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implementedby special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specifiedfunctions or acts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardwareand computer instructions.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Asused herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprise” (andany form of comprise, such as “comprises” and “comprising”), “have” (andany form of have, such as “has” and “having”), “include” (and any formof include, such as “includes” and “including”), and “contain” (and anyform contain, such as “contains” and “containing”) are open-endedlinking verbs. As a result, a method or device that “comprises”, “has”,“includes” or “contains” one or more steps or elements possesses thoseone or more steps or elements, but is not limited to possessing onlythose one or more steps or elements. Likewise, a step of a method or anelement of a device that “comprises”, “has”, “includes” or “contains”one or more features possesses those one or more features, but is notlimited to possessing only those one or more features. Furthermore, adevice or structure that is configured in a certain way is configured inat least that way, but may also be configured in ways that are notlisted.

The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of allmeans or step plus function elements in the claims below, if any, areintended to include any structure, material, or act for performing thefunction in combination with other claimed elements as specificallyclaimed. The description of the present invention has been presented forpurposes of illustration and description, but is not intended to beexhaustive or limited to the invention in the form disclosed. Manymodifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skillin the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.The embodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain theprinciples of one or more aspects of the invention and the practicalapplication, and to enable others of ordinary skill in the art tounderstand one or more aspects of the invention for various embodimentswith various modifications as are suited to the particular usecontemplated.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: mapping boxes residing in a storage bay, the mapping comprising: ascertaining storage bay boundaries; wirelessly reading, using a handheld mobile device, identifying information from tags associated with the boxes within a proximity sphere of the handheld mobile device, each box having at least one tag associated therewith, and the identifying information including box size information for the associated box; determining position of the tags in the storage bay by triangulating tag locations relative to, at least in part, one or more determined locations of the handheld mobile device during the wirelessly reading; creating, by a processor, an initial mapping of location and orientation of boxes in the storage bay using, at least in part, the determined tag positions and the identifying information wirelessly read from the tags; wherein the creating the initial mapping, by the processor, initially represents each box in the storage bay as oriented so that the box's largest dimension is into the storage bay, and so that a second largest dimension of the box is oriented horizontally within the storage bay; based on the initial mapping, determining, by the processor, whether there is a box placement representation violation in the initial mapping of the boxes in the storage bay; and based on determining the box placement representation violation, adjusting, by the processor, the initial mapping to produce a revised mapping with the box placement violation corrected.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the tags are passive tags wirelessly powered and read by the handheld mobile device.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the tags are selected from the group consisting of near-field communication (NFC) tags, Bluetooth communication tags, short-range Wi-FI tags, and RFID tags.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the wirelessly reading comprises wirelessly reading, using the handheld mobile device, the identifying information from the tags associated with the boxes multiple times from different locations of the handheld mobile device, and the automatically determining includes using the multiple readings in triangulating tag locations within the storage bay.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein at least two boxes of the boxes within the storage bay are differently sized, and the mapping comprises providing a map with representations of size and location of the boxes in the storage bay.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the adjusting comprises automatically reorienting a floating box in the mapping of boxes in the storage bay.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the adjusting further comprises automatically repositioning boxes in a row of boxes in the mapping of boxes when boxes overlap or a box overlaps an edge of the storage bay boundary.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the automatically repositioning comprises, for a bottom row of boxes in the mapping of boxes, automatically aligning boxes in the bottom row of boxes to a bottom edge of the storage bay.
 9. The method of claim 7, wherein the automatically repositioning comprises automatically moving a box overlapping a side edge of the storage bay boundary inward.
 10. The method of claim 7, wherein the automatically repositioning comprises, on a first pass through the row of boxes, automatically shifting a box of two adjacent, overlapping boxes to remove the overlap, and automatically creating a linked box group comprising the two adjacent boxes, and on a second pass through the row of boxes, moving the linked box group together should the linked box group overlap with an edge of the bay boundary, or overlap with another box in the row of boxes.
 11. The method of claim 7, wherein the adjusting further comprises dividing the storage bay into multiple vertical sub-bays extending above a lower row of boxes in the mapping of boxes, each vertical sub-bay having at least one edge aligned to an edge of a box in the lower row of boxes, and repeating the automatically repositioning for boxes in each vertical sub-bay of the multiple vertical sub-bays in a next row of boxes in the mapping of boxes.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein adjacent boxes in the lower row of boxes in the mapping of boxes with a same height are part of a same vertical sub-bay of the multiple vertical sub-bays.
 13. A system comprising: a handheld mobile device; a memory; and a processor communicatively coupled to the memory, wherein the system performs a method comprising: mapping boxes residing in a storage bay, the mapping comprising: ascertaining storage bay boundaries; receiving wirelessly read identifying information from tags associated with the boxes, the wirelessly read identifying information being obtained via the handheld mobile device reading tags associated with the boxes within a proximity sphere of the handheld mobile device, each box having at least one tag associated therewith, and the identifying information including box size information for the associated box; determining position of the tags in the storage bay by triangulating tag locations relative to, at least in part, one or more determined locations of the handheld mobile device during the wirelessly reading; creating, by a processor, an initial mapping of location and orientation of boxes in the storage bay using, at least in part, the determined tag positions and the identifying information wirelessly read from the tags; wherein the creating the initial mapping, by the processor, initially represents each box in the storage bay as oriented so that the box's largest dimension is into the storage bay, and so that a second largest dimension of the box is oriented horizontally within the storage bay; based on the initial mapping, determining, by the processor, whether there is a box placement representation violation in the initial mapping of the boxes in the storage bay; and based on determining the box placement representation violation, adjusting, by the processor, the initial mapping to produce a revised mapping with the box placement violation corrected.
 14. The system of claim 13, wherein the tags are passive tags wirelessly powered and read by the handheld mobile device.
 15. The system of claim 13, wherein the tags are selected from the group consisting of near-field communication (NFC) tags, Bluetooth communication tags, short-range Wi-FI tags, and RFID tags.
 16. The system of claim 13, wherein at least two boxes of the boxes within the storage bay are differently sized, and the mapping comprises providing a map with representations of size and location of the boxes in the storage bay.
 17. The system of claim 13, wherein the adjusting comprises automatically reorienting a floating box in the mapping of boxes in the storage bay.
 18. The system of claim 13, further comprising displaying the mapping of boxes to a user and allowing the user to make adjustments to the mapping of boxes on the display.
 19. A computer program product for mapping location of boxes in a storage bay, the computer program product comprising: a computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions being executable by a processor to cause the processor to: ascertain storage bay boundaries; obtain wirelessly read identifying information from tags associated with the boxes, the wirelessly read identifying information being obtained via a handheld mobile device reading tags associated with the boxes within a proximity sphere of the handheld mobile device, each box having at least one tag associated therewith, and the identifying information including box size information for the associated box; determine position of the tags in the storage bay by triangulating tag locations relative to, at least in part, one or more determined locations of the handheld mobile device during the wirelessly reading; create an initial mapping of location and orientation of boxes in the storage bay using the determined tag positions and the identifying information, including the box size information for the associated boxes; wherein the creating the initial mapping initially represents each box in the storage bay as oriented so that the box's largest dimension is into the storage bay, and so that a second largest dimension of the box is oriented horizontally within the storage bay; based on the initial mapping, determining whether there is a box placement representation violation in the initial mapping of the boxes in the storage bay; and based on determining the box placement representation violation, adjusting the initial mapping to produce a revised mapping with the box placement violation corrected.
 20. The computer program product of claim 19, wherein at least two boxes of the boxes within the storage bay are differently sized, and the mapping comprises providing a map with representations of size and location of the boxes in the storage bay. 